Omnia Vincit Amor
by Le0n
Summary: The consequences of Hermione's marriage to Ron. Not HG X RW
1. Delusional

Author's notes: I wrote this a long time ago, right after I had read the sixth book in the series. I admit that Harry and Hermione will never be together but I can ship whoever I want and that's the reason I wrote this, to exteriorize my frustration. This is not a happy story and I can take flames as long as you don't bash me because of my choices.

(Harry's POV)

_Love is just a word; nothing more, nothing less than that._

What is love? How can you define love in a century where scientific knowledge is more important than people's beliefs in a power much greater than us?

According to Socrates, love only serves to create magnificent and beautiful speeches, but according to the romantic myth, love is just a way to express the passion that a person feels for another.

I don't agree with any of them; as she pointed to me, love is just a tiny word with no significance whatsoever.

Only an ancient form of language could ever express my feelings towards her, but unfortunately that kind of magic disappeared centuries ago.

Maybe she is right, maybe I can't understand love as a feeling; how could I, when all that I've experienced during my short life has been pain and suffering?

My parents were killed when I was a baby, my uncle treated me like a piece of garbage during my all childhood, my godfather was killed because of my own stupidity, and now the woman that I love chose my best friend over me, a man that I despise with all my heart for stealing her from me.

So, tell me, how can I know the difference between love and hate?

_Love is for people with dreams._

During these last seven years I only had one purpose in life: to destroy once and for all the most powerful dark wizard my world ever saw: Lord Voldemort.

I did; I destroyed him, but now with the end of this day, I have nothing to aspire to.

April first is the day that will live in infamy until my last breath; it was the day my life ended when Hermione swore her eternal love to Ron.

I admit that Ron is a good man; he is the kind of person that is willing to fight for his dreams no matter what and the kind of man who puts his family over his own needs; for me that is the only reason she decided to marry him.

Hermione is a girl who needs to feel protected by a strong man, someone who can be a good parent to her children and more important yet, someone who she knows will come home every time he goes to work without worrying if he's going to get killed or not.

I'm not that kind of man; I have too many scars in my life to fight for a perfect future or to be a good husband; I thought she would understand that. After all, she was the only one who ever understand me.

I know that my problems are too difficult for her to support, but still I can't believe that she chose a brat like him over me, The Boy Who Lived... to be with her.

_My love goes to the person who can give me peace, Harry, not to someone like you._

I knew since our first meeting that she was different from the other girls.

It wasn't her looks or her intelligence that fascinated me; for me, that isn't the most important thing in a woman, and I don't care what other man say. For me, true beauty resides in people's souls, and I knew in my guts that hers was as bright as the sun.

I lost count at the times she put her safety in danger to help me achieve my goals; I can never forget her compassion towards me whenever that fuck decided to have one of his jealousy attacks, and I specially can never forget the way she always protected me from other people.

In return, I gave her a future by destroying Voldemort, but that wasn't enough for her.

So, why, God, why did she chose Ron Weasley over me? What was she thinking when she made that absurd decision?

We always had a connection that transcended friendship, a connection that transcended love; what else do you call two persons that can speak to each other without saying a single word?

I can only think of two words: soul mates.

I firmly believe that it was our destiny to be together forever, so why did she decide to sacrifice a live without me for a future without flame?

_You can have my body every time you want, but never my mind._

With Voldemort dead, she was my only reason to continue with my life; without her, all that I could see in my future was despair.

Last night we made love like there was no tomorrow, a night that will forever be the most beautiful experience of my entire existence.

I can't describe the sensations that I felt when I was inside her, and I know that she couldn't either.

Her skin was as soft as silk; her bushy hair smelled like the rain that was falling outside my room; her face never looked so angelical...

If I could, I would had stayed in that bed making love to her until the end of days; for me that was enough to continue with my life.

But she couldn't stop crying, not even when I kissed her on the mouth to prevent her from saying something that would make us both feel like monsters under God's eyes.

I licked her tears to try making her pain disappear; I only wanted her moans of pleasure to fill the air, not her screams of guilt.

Deep down, I knew that she was miserable for giving me the only thing she could give, but I didn't care; at least we were together.

_I don't want you to see me with Ron; please don't destroy my life._

When the sun rose, she was already gone.

She didn't have the courage to face me; the only thing that was left from her, was note saying that if I really loved her I wouldn't go to the wedding.

I agreed, her happiness was more important than anything else, but I still couldn't believe what she was going to do...not after what happened last night.

During the ceremony, I was at the Leaky Cauldron, drinking Fire Whisky with Tom, trying to destroy the monster that was eating my guts and telling me to destroy my once best friend for being a better man than me.

"Another Fire Whisky, Tom, and this time leave the bottle".

"Are you having a hard day, Harry?"

"A hard life, Tom, hard life..."

"Love problems?"

"Let's just say that I was a delusional fool for thinking that I had found true love."

"She doesn't love you?"

"I know she does love me, and that's what I can't understand, Tom. We were made of each other, but still she refused to give me her affection."

"Maybe love wasn't enough."

"No? According to the legend, it was love that helped me defeat Voldemort."

"No, Harry, it wasn't love that helped you defeat the Dark Lord. You only defeated him because it was your destiny; don't elude yourself.

There are people in this world who are destined to be happy, but there are also people who are destined to be miserable. You, Harry, I'm sorry for saying this, are one of those people. You have already completed your task in this world, Harry; don't expect too much from life from now on."

I completely lost my posture when I heard those words; he was completely right.

I realized that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life, a thought that made me completely lose my grit, making me start crying like a little boy.

"I don't want to live without her; I don't want to be lonely," I mumbled over and over with the despair starting to fill my soul"

"Hermione, Hermione..."

_Love is a trap from where you can never escape, and when you realize that, you will be condemned to destroy yourself._


	2. The Crying Game

(Hermione's POV)

_One day I'm going to tell the moon about the crying game..._

Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, the day I would finally find some peace in the arms of the man that promised to do everything in his power to give me a life without war, a life without pain, a life without killings...

He's sleeping now, probably dreaming with the only thing he was able to beat Harry in, by the smile in his face.

I'm happy for him, I really am, it's wonderful to see him finally smile after all these years; I only wish I had a reason to smile too.

I should be occupying my place in the bed next to him; after all, this is the first time we would be sleeping together as husband and wife but instead of that, I'm here, looking at the landscape of the National Park of Simen, once described by a writer as the place where the ancient Gods used to play chess with the silk trees that surround this entire mountainous area.

It's raining heavily, but I don't mind; I love the rain, I truly believe that the cold water that falls from the sky and covers my naked body is the only instrument I have in this world to clean my dirty soul.

I tried, God knows I tried to be the perfect girl my parents, my teachers and my friends wanted me to be; as the best student in Hogwarts and as one of the survivors of the last war against Voldemort, I had a brilliant future ahead of me.

I was, according to the Minister of Magic, the prototype of what a good wizard should be.

If he knew, if my parents knew the kind of woman I became, I'm sure they would be extremely disgusted with me.

What I'm doing to Ron, what I did to Harry, is something a good person wouldn't do even to his worst enemy.

While Harry was in the hospital fighting for his life, trying to forget his diabolical battle with Voldemort, I heard his voice calling for me numerous times during one of my visits and that simple gesture broke my heart; he didn't call for Cho, his first girlfriend, he didn't call for Ginny, his true love, he just chose to call for Hermione.

If I had known sooner what he really felt for me, none of us would be on this tragic situation; yes, it's a tragic situation, because we will never have a moment of peace until the day of our death, not even Ron, who prefers to ignore this whole affair.

I also tried to ignore the entire subject, I tried to convince myself that in the state he was he didn't know what he was doing, but then what I feared most happened; I didn't realize at the time what I did but then it hit me that I had destroyed the little will he had to continue with his life by showing him that my heart already had an owner.

I saw Harry's look when he defeated Voldemort; it was full of anger, hate and madness, a look so inhuman that it made me cry of despair, despair by the fear that my best friend in the last seven years, may had vanished along with Voldemort.

I saw that look one more time, in the day he saw me kissing Ron while he was doing exercises in the gym of St. Mungo's.

I cried all night long, cursing myself for ignoring what was so obvious during the years we spent together.

I was his confidant, a shoulder where he could cry whenever he wanted to, his source of comfort when he thought he couldn't bare the burden that was put on him since the day of his birth...

My God, how could I have done this heinous act to him? He was the last person in the world to deserve such pain, especially from a person that was his source of hope for a better future.

Only a horrible person would destroy the dreams of a broken man.

I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to explain my actions, my behaviour in front of him, but he refused to listen; I was no longer his confident, for him I was just the person that shattered his soul without any kind of mercy.

I was the person who killed Harry James Potter...

My heart hurts, since that time, for being with Ron; I know that he truly loves me, I always knew that and I'm deeply sorry for no longer feeling the same way.

Like Mlle de Lespinasse said, _I love you like a person should love, in despair;_ it was because of my despair that I fell for Harry.

I already can feel a powerful wave of pain storming threw my body as I say this, but I don't think Harry is the right person for me.

The last time I saw him was the day before my marriage to Ron; he was so devastated by the news that he cried in front of him, begging me to not destroy both our lives.

I didn't comfort him, I was suffering as much as him, so I did the only thing I could do to calm him down; I made love to him.

I was going to get married the next morning with Ron and I had sex with another man...

When he fell asleep, tears started to flow to my cheeks; I cried not because of sorrow for what I had done, but because of the expression Harry had in his face, an expression of happiness that I knew would dissolve with hate when the rain stopped falling from the sky.

_Let me rest for a while, everything will be alright, _said Werther to Charlotte after she decided to marry Albert.

What he really meant by that was that soon she would be without him; he would commit suicide because of what she did to him.

In that instant, I chose a comfortable life over love; he saved my life numerous times and I decided to leave him, knowing that decision might lead to his ultimate destruction.

The man that I grew with, the man that I fought with, the man that I love is...is...

Why did I enter that compartment in the train in our first year? What was destiny's purpose when it put us together? If we weren't meant to be together, why did I meet him?

I couldn't bare look at Harry one more second, so I left without saying goodbye; I didn't deserve his love but he deserved mine and I couldn't give that to him...

The rain had stopped falling; I could see now the moon from the place we were, pale as death.

The wind was gently running threw my hair, hiding my swelled eyes from all the crying I did in this miserable night.

Neville told me that on his way to the wedding, he had seen Harry at the Leaky Cauldron drinking everything he could put his hands on, shouting weird things about Voldemort's ultimate victory in the war and that in the end Tom had to take him home after he collapsed on the floor completely unable to move a muscle.

I let a tear slip to my cheeks when I heard that but that was all I did to show my compassion towards Harry...

In my hands was a letter sent by an anonymous person shortly after Ron and I arrived here.

The strangest thing about it, according to the person who gave it to me, was that the letter hadn't been delivered by an owl but by a phoenix, something he had never seen in his entire life.

A letter from the grave...

Written on the paper was a single sentence:

_To the person that wakes up from his dreams, I hope she finds peace in death_

Freud once said that a man who doubts of his own love can, or better yet, should doubt of everything that is less important; that means that I don't care about anything.

Harry was right, Voldemort was the true winner of the last war; he wasn't able to destroy us, but he was able to destroy our dreams and with them any hope we used to have for a better future.

I expect that one day Harry, you'll find the love you once had to forgive me for my weakness.

Don't give up on life so easily like I did; you are too important to the world but I... I'm expendable.

That's all you need to know about me.


	3. Dreams By Ron Weasley

(Ron's POV)

_The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams._

The fog that surrounded the streets was so thick that it seemed to cling to the ground, preventing me from see which way I was going.

It doesn't matter anyway; the majority of the roads are blocked by enormous walls of bricks, and because of that I'm forced to follow a specific direction almost against my will.

The important thing here is that I've been walking for hours now and I still haven't found an exit from this strange place; in fact, I have no idea how I ended up here.

The only thing I remember is that I went out for a run to clear from my head some problems that were bugging me since last night; and when I finally stopped for a rest, I realized that I was in this desert Muggle city without any specific reason for being here.

I'm not nervous or anything like that, worse things have happened to me during my short life, but I have to admit that this is a very disturbing town.

The buildings around me are completely destroyed and I doubt anyone lives there, but at the same time I can see shops with fresh food on the shelves and a church showing a sign that says that the new priest will arrive on the first day of April of this year to celebrate the wedding that will mark the beginning of a new era in the city.

The streets were full of souvenirs shops selling objects that celebrated the defeat of Voldemort and that really made me sick; what kind of morbid people decided to put up for sale replicas of his broken wand and his Horcruxes?

I can't see any birds flying near me, but I can hear them sing a bizarre melody, a melody that was so hypnotic that almost made me believe I was in a dream world or something ludicrous like that.

I can feel a soft breeze running over my face, but the leaves of the trees aren't moving...

What the hell is happening here?

I'm now near a park with a rusty gate, apparently deserted like the rest of the town.

There's nothing special about it, it isn't more interesting than any other park I've been to, but there was an odd force, a force stronger than my will that was telling me that I should explore that space without delay; I don't know how to explain this, but I feel that my life, my whole future, may depend on it.

At first I didn't see anything special, just some benches and trash bins that were surrounding this circular area, but then, without warning, I started hearing some creepy sounds of bizarre creatures, mixed with...a person's whisper!

I follow it, that seemed a good idea at the time, and soon the whisper turned into a woman's voice, a voice that was very familiar to me but different at the same time; it was a sound full of joy but at the same time full of sadness; it reminded me the song that Dumbledore's phoenix sang when he...

I couldn't finish the thought, not because of the pain it caused me when I think about it, but because what I saw next blow me away; there, sitting on a bench, barefoot, was the only person I ever loved my entire life, the only woman I ever wanted to be with...

I can't express by words the feelings that consume me every time I see her; I don't want to use a cliché, but I truly believe that we were destined to be together since the day we were born, since the day we met on the Hogwarts' Express...

When Hermione finally saw me, she threw a warm smile at me; I guarantee that no woman in the entire universe has a smile as wonderful as hers, it is just phenomenal.

I sat near her, wanting to feel the warm of her body next to mine and I think that she felt the same way as me, because she hugged me immediately when I approached her; she was looking for some kind of comfort on my arms, like she always did, looking for my lips for peace like I always do when I'm close to her; that's how things are between me and her...

Many people suffered with that damned war, but as strong as Hermione is, I know that she was more devastated than the others that fought in the Ministry of Magic; the horrible images that she was forced to keep in her memory, forever, were too much for someone like her to support...

Sometimes, when she thinks I'm sleeping, I hear her cry like a little child on the floor of the Burrow's kitchen, mourning the deaths of our classmates that perished at the hands of the Death Eaters.

_My grief is the only thing that makes me realize how fortunate I am - _her words, not mine; I wish I had half of her heart to say something as insightful as that...

"Where are we Hermione? How did you find me?"

"Oh Ron, you know where we are, you were the one that brought me her, remember?" she replied with a dreamy expression on her face.

"OK, then why did I bring you here?"

"Only you can answer that question too."

"Hermione, I don't have a clue about what you are talking about."

She just smiled at me.

"It's true what he says after all."

I was running out of patience, but I decided to continue to play her game.

"And what does he say?"

"'Ignorance is a blessing', a very good statement if you ask me."

I didn't say a word to her; I just didn't know how to respond to that. It's obvious there was something very wrong with this picture, I mean, why was she behaving this way, all mysterious and incoherent?

This isn't the Hermione I fell in love with...

Don't get me wrong, I know for a fact that the woman I have in front of me is Hermione, but there's something really weird about her, something I can't quite place.

But that wasn't the strangest thing about her conduct...

All of a sudden, and without any kind of explanation to this sudden reaction, she harshly pushed me away and for no good reason put her arms in the air and started dancing to the rhythm of music that only she could hear.

"Don't look at me like that, Ron; didn't you ever learn that weird things happen in weird places?"

"I...I...Hermione, are you alright?"

"Now that he is finally here, I am."

"Who's here?"

"I am, Ron", said a deep voice right next to me.

I turned my head to face the person that had spoken those words, and what I saw left me in complete shock; there, looking at the horizon, was the man I once considered my own brother, the man I would have died for if the situation ever required it; unfortunately, he's not that man anymore.

"How did you get here, Harry?"

He turned his attention towards me, a smirk starting to appear on his lips. I have to say that he has seen better days.

"What the fuck do you mean by that? I've been living here in past three years, you know that."

"Excuse me?"

"You never were too bright, were you, Ron? But what can I say; you were always a little naïve when presented with a simple situation."

"Don't say that Harry, he's just confused, you know how he is," said Hermione with an absent-minded expression, looking at the moon that appeared suddenly and inexplicably on the sky.

Harry laughed hard, but I didn't find any reason to share his joy.

It's difficult to forget our past, I'll be the first to confess it; we have too much story together to simply pretend that it never existed.

I was there next to him when he decided to look for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, knowing very well that the journey could had been my last adventure with him; I fought alongside him in his final battle against the Death Eaters, to make sure he would be able to complete his destiny; I sacrificed my own family just to make sure that the world would be free from the tyranny of the most powerful dark wizard ever to exist.

So why did our friendship end?

Well, the simple answer to that question is that Hermione was the responsible for our split, but I know him well enough, at least I think I do, to know that he wouldn't be that shallow.

Or maybe, like everything in life, we changed so much that we reached a point where we didn't have anything in common anymore...

"What are you thinking about, Weasley?"

"Do you want a straight answer?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I was thinking about our friendship."

"Well, isn't that nice..."

"And what the fuck is that suppose to mean?"

"Easy, Ron, there's no need for you to get violent. Although, if you want of course, you can use that rage and try to take me out; your life would be much easier if you did that."

"You know I would never fight against you."

"Why?"

"Because, contrary like you, I still have respect for all the things we accomplished together."

"Together?"

He looked surprised by that statement.

"Yes, together..."

He was ready to say something, but the only sound that got out of his mouth was a mumble that I couldn't understand.

"Why did you have to fall in love with Hermione, Harry?"

"That's a tricky question."

"No, it isn't. All I want is a straight answer from you."

"A person once told me that love was just a word Ron, but a very strong one. Love can turn you into the happiest person on Earth, but it can also destroy you in a blink of an eye; love is more powerful than Avada Kedavra and the other Unforgivable Curses combined and do you know why?"

I didn't react; I wanted to know where he was going with this.

"Because the Unforgivable Curses can destroy your body, but love can destroy your soul, and for that decease there's no known cure, Ron."

"What are you trying to say, Harry?"

"You took her from me, the single person that could bring some sort of meaning to my empty existence now that I've defeated Voldemort, you took from me the only person that made me realise how wonderful the principle of love is.

"With this said, do you think we could still be friends?"

"I want to believe that we can."

"No, we can't...

"Look Ron, I don't blame you or her, is just that...you always had what I wanted for me personally; parents that love you, brothers to talk to, a place you could call home, that's all I ever wanted. And now you have her...

"Tell me, honestly, do you still envy me, a loner that had his life destroyed by a man because of a stupid prophecy? Do you still want my fame for being the one that survived a heartless murderer countless times? Do you want to live the rest your life with the knowledge that your future will be darker than ever because you have nothing to fight for anymore?"

He didn't wait for me to respond him; I'm sure he already knew my answer.

"I'm sorry, Harry, oh my God, I am so sorry..."

I didn't turn my head to see her; I could tell by her sobs that she was crying heavily and that was too much for me to take this moment.

"Before I go, Weasley, allow me to leave you with this thought; Hermione is only with you because of me and don't you ever, ever, forget that."

"What? What do you...?"

It was too late; he already had disappeared into the fog.

"My God, Ron, what have we done, what have we done?"

"Hermione ..."

I walked at her, wanting to hold her on my arms once more, but she didn't want that.

When I approached her, she started running as fast as she could into the forest, without looking back.

I start running after her, without the slightest idea where I was going; I just wanted to catch her and calm her down.

All around me I could hear the screams of the dead, souls condemned to live on a limbo because of their sins.

Maybe that's motive that destiny brought me here too.

I finally saw her entering in a decrepit building that reminded me my former home, The Burrow, but it lacked the happiness that I always felt when I used to live there.

I encountered a dark and dingy hallway when I penetrated the space, a rotten smell filling the air; the vibrations I was receiving were full of angst and misery.

On both sides were various doors, each of them showing a different inscription:

_Molly Weasley_

_1950-1998_

_Fred Weasley_

_1976-1998_

_Charlie Weasley_

_1972-1998_

_Percy Weasley_

_1976-1998_

_Fleur Delacour_

_1977-1998_

I dropped on my knees and for the first time I was forced to face the truth; my family was dead and there was nothing I could do to bring them back.

_I can't loose you too, Hermione, not you..._

But apparently, God wasn't working today; in front of me was one more door and the inscription there left me consumed by agony:

_Hermione Jane Granger_

_You can dream, but not make dreams your master_

_1979-?_

I woke up in a pool of my own sweat; the night was freezing, but the weather wasn't strong enough against my mind.

I looked around just to make sure that I was awake; sometimes fantasy can be more convincing than the real world.

"A dream, a fucking dream..." I mumbled several times, trying to convince myself that nothing bad had really happened, that all that had been just in my mind.

I rotated over myself to make sure that Hermione was right there, in the bed next to me; she wasn't.

I found her on the balcony of the room, naked and completely wet, with her arms on the air, like she was waiting for something or someone; she was waiting for the moon to forgive her.

Why was she doing that, why wasn't she her with me, in bed, in our first night as a married couple? Why was she smiling at the abyss with a strange expression on her face?

I had a feeling that this night wouldn't end well; usually dreams like this are considered signs from the Gods to show us the truth about some things that we prefer to ignore.

_"He's here..."_

I know Hermione, I know...


End file.
